Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Depending on where we draw system boundaries, we probably aren’t doing the same thing over and over again.

There is a quote attributed to Einstein about insanity being the act of doing the same thing and expecting different results. There is a debate among people who debate such things about if Einstein ever said that or if he was the first and so on.

For now, let’s sidestep the debate and the debaters. Instead, let’s consider whether or not we do the same thing over and over again.

Seven days a week I read the Internet and post items that catch my attention to a blog. I upload this blog using a bash script. I run the same script everyday, i.e., I do the same thing over and over again—and I get different results. I run my script while sitting in one of several local coffee shops. These coffee shops use different systems to connect the Internet to their patrons. These coffee shops also change their systems from time to time.

Oh, perhaps I am not doing the same thing over and over again. Perhaps I am using different access systems that change. Someone else, however, is making those changes. They are making those changes to part of my system that is out of my control.

Enough semantics; let’s get to the point. Understand the systems we use. Understand that there is much to our systems that are outside our control. While we don’t need to understand everything about these systems, we do need to realize our limitations and the changes that affect our desired results.

The world is inter-connected. Hence, the “inter” part of the word Internet. Keep our eyes and our minds open.